


Strangers Like Me

by Faiz



Category: Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:37:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3803917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faiz/pseuds/Faiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Riley reads aloud to Koda</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strangers Like Me

**Author's Note:**

> This doesn't actually have much to do with Tarzan but I fucking should write an au like that tbh. 
> 
> Also yes surprise I ship Riley/Koda as well as Riley/Chase whadduuuup

It was a staple of his own childhood, as far back as Riley could remember his mother would call Matt and Riley and they’d curl up on their mom’s bed and she’d read to them before they’d head off to bed. He remembered how fun it was when their dad was home, and he’d join them and help their mom do voices for characters and he’d lift Riley off the bed and get Matt as well to act out parts of the stories as their mom read to them. Though they rarely if ever read kid’s books, no, they’d read chapters books and they’d read a chapter every night. Sometimes two if Riley and Matt were particularly whiny about wanting more. As a result, both Riley and Matt ended up being avid readers, even after they were too old for their mom to read aloud to them anymore.

Riley remembered constantly finding Matt fast asleep on the couch (or even the floor) with a book on his face or chest because he had fallen asleep reading, or he’d have to pull the headphones out of his ears and pause an audiobook he had been listening to while working. Riley himself knew he had many a late night staying up to read with a flashlight because he couldn’t just put the book down and go to bed. He had to know what happened next. Reading was literally a part of him, even in Amber Beach. When he wasn’t training, working, or doing ranger duties, he found the time to sit and read.

He was happy to have found a rare moment where he could read in peace, and in a strange turn of events he had decided to skip out on training that day. His uncle Casey had gotten him a Kindle for his eighteenth birthday, which obviously meant that there were now more books for Riley to read, and barely any time to do it. He had plenty of time to train more, skipping one day of training couldn’t hurt him. So he sat at the oddly placed picnic table (seriously, why did they have a picnic table in the base?) and read in silence, glad that everyone else was currently on shift and working. 

But he felt like someone was watching him. It finally got to the point where he couldn’t even concentrate on the words on the screen because he could feel a pair of eyes just boring into him and he finally looked up and jumped slightly to see Koda sitting on one of the tables staring at him intently. 

“...Koda?” Riley asked uncertainly. “You alright?”

“What...is that?” Koda asked, jumping off the table and sitting down next to Riley.

“My Kindle?” Koda nodded and Riley continued. “Oh, it’s like our phones. Sort of. It’s just for books, since it’s hard to carry around so many books, this makes it easier.”

“You read a lot?” Koda looked at him with curiosity. 

Riley couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, my mom used to read to me and my brother when I was really little. I couldn’t imagine a world without books.” Riley thought for a moment. “They didn’t really do that in your time...did they?”

Koda shook his head. “Not read. But elders, would tell story. Hunts, and spirits and things.”

“Wow..that’s amazing.” Riley breathed. 

Koda looked down at Riley’s Kindle. “Will you...read? To me?”

Riley frowned and looked down. “Well, this is actually the third book in the series I’m reading so you wouldn’t really get what’s going on…” He saw the look of disappointment on Koda’s face. “But, I do have other books. Wait here!” Riley tucked his Kindle into his messenger back and ran out.

When he returned, he held up three books to Koda with an excited smile. 

“What is it?” Koda asked.

“Lord of the Rings!” Riley said excitedly. “It was one of the first series my mom read to me!” He realized just how excited he was getting and coughed awkwardly before continuing. “I’m not exactly good at reading out loud. That was my mom’s job. But I’ll give it a try, okay?” 

Koda nodded and they both sat back down on the picnic table and Riley began to read. He wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t the best at reading out loud. He’d stumble over words, and he’d have to take moments to try and remember how he pronounced some things. But luckily Koda never cared if Riley said something wrong, or stumbled over his words. He just smiled at Riley with a look that encouraged him to keep going. And as he kept going, it got easier for him. 

It became a sort of tradition for them, whenever they had free time together. Riley would read a chapter out loud (maybe two, if Koda whined enough) and sometimes he’d let Koda read a bit. He wasn’t perfect, but Riley was quite literally teaching him to read (even if Lord of the Rings was an odd choice of books to teach someone to read.) and it astounded him just how quickly Koda picked up on it. And it was great that Koda was getting more and more confident in his own skills.

So Riley now sat there watching as Koda paced down the length of his cave with Return of the King in his hands as he read it aloud to Riley. Though the green ranger by this point already had these books memorized, he was happy watching Koda read with a small smile on his face. They were getting near the end at this point, and he could even sense it in the caveman’s voice that he was excited to finally finish it and know what happened. Riley was just focused on watching Koda now, watching his lips move as words left his mouth and the faces he’d unconsciously make mimicking the emotions of the characters. 

“Riley?” Koda asked suddenly.

“Hm?” Riley snapped out of it as Koda handed the book to him.

“We finished!”

Riley grinned. “We did, did you like it?”

Koda nodded enthusiastically. “We need to read more. I like it.” 

Riley yawned and reached for his bag. “We can start another before I leave if you wa--” But Koda stopped him.

“My turn.” 

Riley looked up at him in confusion, and Koda pointed to his wall full of cave paintings. “Oh…”

“I’ll tell you story, from my people.” Koda grinned at Riley.

And so Koda began, telling Riley tales that he knew from when he was a child. The stories that the elders would tell them as they sat around the fires on cold nights. Maybe he didn’t get them perfectly, but he remembered the motions, the emotions, and he hoped that Riley understood them too. And even though Riley looked incredibly sleepy now, he was smiling up at Koda. And when Koda finished, he sat down next to the tired green ranger.

“You like it?” Koda asked.

Riley nodded, letting his head fall onto Koda’s shoulders. “I loved it…”

They stayed like that for awhile, as both of them slowly fell asleep, curled up on each other and content.

**Author's Note:**

> yo come on koda he's 100002 years younger than u bro
> 
> edit: actually i did the math wrong he's 100004 years younger than u srsly koda wtf


End file.
